It is just one of those things that not all of us still live where were grew up.
Now that can be a good thing because it usually means you have forged a new life as a grown up, had a shed full of new experiences, met heaps of new people and possibly settled down with someone you could never have met at home.
On the other hand at times the pull of a place like Eltham can be very strong, it comes and goes but never really leaves you.
The trouble is when I think back to Eltham and in particular to Well Hall I know I am pretty much dealing with a moment frozen in time, sometime between 1964 and ‘74.
A time before McDonalds, when we still had a book shop on the corner opposite the parish church, when the railway station was that old and rustic half timbered affair and when you could still get a pint in the King’s Arms, the Castle and the Crown and because I am on one there was still a place beside the Library where you could pay your electric bill.
And yes someone will mutter, when there were still three picture houses in Eltham and the swimming baths were just down the hill.
All of which I know borders on nostalgic tosh but even I like to indulge myself, so here are a collection of Ryan’s pictures which point up what I remember and some of what I don’t.
We had washed up in Well Hall in the 1960s, and in the middle of the next decade I was married, pursuing a career and living in one of the great cities of the North.
So a thank you is in order to Ryan and for all the people who regularly offer up pictures of Eltham.
The entrance to the church hasn’t changed, but the post office has morphed into a pub and survived when older and more established ones have closed and occasionally bits of our past have also stood the test of time.
Of these it is the ghost sign “Commit no nuisance” that most appeals to me.
Once it had the power of a byelaw behind it and no doubt stern police officers to ensure that no one transgressed the command.
Today I doubt anyone gives it a second glance and if they either smile or wonder what possible nuisance might someone commit in Eltham.
Thinking back I can offer up a few but that like most of my memories is perhaps best left in the past.
Location; around Eltham, 2016
Pictures; Eltham in 2016 from the collection of Ryan Ginn
On the other hand at times the pull of a place like Eltham can be very strong, it comes and goes but never really leaves you.
The trouble is when I think back to Eltham and in particular to Well Hall I know I am pretty much dealing with a moment frozen in time, sometime between 1964 and ‘74.
And yes someone will mutter, when there were still three picture houses in Eltham and the swimming baths were just down the hill.
All of which I know borders on nostalgic tosh but even I like to indulge myself, so here are a collection of Ryan’s pictures which point up what I remember and some of what I don’t.
We had washed up in Well Hall in the 1960s, and in the middle of the next decade I was married, pursuing a career and living in one of the great cities of the North.
The entrance to the church hasn’t changed, but the post office has morphed into a pub and survived when older and more established ones have closed and occasionally bits of our past have also stood the test of time.
Of these it is the ghost sign “Commit no nuisance” that most appeals to me.
Once it had the power of a byelaw behind it and no doubt stern police officers to ensure that no one transgressed the command.
Today I doubt anyone gives it a second glance and if they either smile or wonder what possible nuisance might someone commit in Eltham.
Thinking back I can offer up a few but that like most of my memories is perhaps best left in the past.
Location; around Eltham, 2016
Pictures; Eltham in 2016 from the collection of Ryan Ginn
It's true that Eltham, if you grew up there, grips the heart. I was born in Sidcup, but from 1950 until 1974, I lived in Greenholm road. Sure, I visited many countries: Russia, Sudan, Indonesia - but thank the Lord for this website. I STILL come back to Eltham in my sleep!!
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